Author|Azuma(@azuma_eth)
On August 9th Beijing Time, after the US stock market closed, Berkshire Hathaway released its Q2 2026 financial report.
The report data shows that Berkshire Hathaway's total revenue for Q2 2026 reached $101.808 billion, a year-over-year increase of approximately 10%. Net profit attributable to shareholders was $25.667 billion, doubling (a roughly 107% increase) compared to the same period last year, with both operating profit and net profit significantly exceeding market expectations.
However, a more significant signal in the report is that Berkshire Hathaway finally ended over three years (14 quarters) of net stock selling and shifted to net buying.
With $400 Billion in Cash, Berkshire Finally Acts
The report data shows that in the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway purchased approximately $23.47 billion worth of stocks and sold only $3.69 billion, resulting in net purchases close to $19.8 billion, ending the prolonged net selling state that began in 2023.
More noteworthy for investors is the direction of the funds. The report disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway's largest move last quarter was an additional approximately $10 billion investment in Alphabet (Google's parent company) through a private placement. This move officially places Google among Berkshire Hathaway's top five largest stock holdings by market value—alongside American Express, Apple, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola. As of the end of June, these five holdings collectively accounted for 66% of the stock investment portfolio, indicating that concentration remains extremely high.
Although Warren Buffett himself has long maintained a cautious attitude towards tech stocks, he previously revealed when first investing in Google that the decision was made jointly after discussions with Greg Abel (Berkshire Hathaway's current CEO, who officially succeeded Buffett on January 1st this year). Buffett also admitted that missing out on Google earlier was a "historical mistake," and this late investment was based on value investment logic, focusing on its search monopoly moat and stable cash flow.
This recent billion-dollar increase, however, represents an investment decision made under the leadership of the new CEO, Abel—perhaps indicating that with Buffett stepping back and Abel taking the helm, Berkshire Hathaway's tolerance and participation in technological frontiers are increasing.
In addition to resuming net buying in the market, Berkshire Hathaway also conducted its first stock buyback in two years during the second quarter. The report disclosed that last quarter, Berkshire Hathaway spent approximately $4.527 billion on buybacks, the highest quarterly amount since 2021; in July, it added over $3.3 billion more for buybacks.
In March of this year, Berkshire Hathaway announced the restart of its stock buyback plan. Abel stated at the time that the buybacks were because management believed the "intrinsic value" of their own stock was higher than its market price.
With the shift in investment and buyback pace, the massive cash reserves Berkshire Hathaway has long accumulated are also beginning to change. Over the past few years, one of the company's biggest labels has been a "cash machine." Due to a lack of large-scale opportunities meeting Buffett's investment criteria, the company's cash and short-term US Treasury holdings continued to climb, reaching a historical high of nearly $400 billion by the end of Q1 this year.
However, as stock acquisitions, stock buybacks, and industrial mergers and acquisitions (primarily for acquiring the petrochemical company OxyChem and homebuilder Taylor Morrison) unfolded, Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves began to decline. As of June 30th, Berkshire held approximately $35.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and short-term US Treasury holdings were about $324.9 billion, totaling roughly $364.7 billion, a noticeable decrease from $397.38 billion at the end of Q1.
Once Mocked for "Not Keeping Up with the Times," Actually Watching Quietly "From the Banks of the Era's Turbulence"
Rewind to 2023 through early 2026.
Over these past few years, the wave of AI technology completely ignited the global capital markets. The chip and semiconductor industry chain, represented by Nvidia, SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, became the most crowded trading sector.
The market was filled with an "All in AI" frenzy. Any fund manager not heavily invested in semiconductors was seen as outdated. Meanwhile, Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway, sitting on hundreds of billions in cash, chose an almost indifferent stance of observation.
Mockery followed. "Buffett can't keep up with the times," "Value investing is dead," "In the face of the AI revolution, the moat theory is outdated," "The old man isn't even as good as me"... Similar doubts were endless. People delighted in discussing the semiconductor stocks' gains of several-fold or even dozens-fold, comparing them to Berkshire Hathaway's seemingly sluggish stock performance, and eagerly concluded—this 90-plus-year-old investment maestro and his designated successor, Abel, had lost their judgment regarding the tech revolution.
But Berkshire Hathaway's choices clearly had their own logic. In its Q2 2026 report, Berkshire Hathaway reiterated its signature warning: "The amount of investment gains/losses in any given quarter is usually meaningless and provides virtually no analytical or predictive value."
While this statement seems directed at GAAP accounting standards, it is actually a consistent attitude towards short-term market speculation. In the eyes of Buffett and Abel, doubts may still persist about whether the semiconductor industry can escape its cyclical nature, and uncertainty exists about when the explosive demand for AI hardware will translate into sustainable cash flow.
When the market entered its狂欢 stage and semiconductor companies' stock prices soared, the market environment at that time no longer conformed to Berkshire Hathaway's discipline of "buying great companies at fair prices." Thus, while the market was immersed in FOMO sentiment, Berkshire Hathaway chose the most boring but also most DNA-aligned strategy—waiting.
Until recent months, as the semiconductor frenzy suddenly subsided, previously overhyped targets experienced significant corrections. Those investors who once mocked Buffett for "missing the boat" suddenly realized that the paper profits from chasing semiconductor highs rapidly evaporated in the correction. Meanwhile, the hundreds of billions in cash on Berkshire Hathaway's books not only provided unparalleled safety but also gave it the courage to be greedy when others are fearful.
The $19.8 billion in net purchases in the second quarter is precisely the validation of this discipline. It's worth noting that Berkshire Hathaway did not chase the market at its peak but rather made large-scale moves after market fluctuations and the return of quality asset prices to reasonable ranges.
This is the truth Buffett has practiced for decades—investing is not about who runs the fastest, but about who lives the longest and laughs last.
